Zechariah saw a horseman in a vision of the night (Zechariah 1:8). The rabbis identified this figure as the prince of Edom — the heavenly guardian angel of the nation that had ruled over Israel longest and hardest. He rode on a red horse. He stood among the myrtle trees. He spoke to the angel of the Lord as if he had standing, as if his kingdom's claim were legitimate.
Rabbi Berachiah read this alongside Amasai's declaration in Chronicles: "We are yours, David, and on your side, son of Jesse" (1 Chronicles 12:18). The spirit clothed Amasai — seized him, moved through him — and he swore loyalty to David at a moment when David was being persecuted. The contrast with Edom's prince is exact: one figure stands in the night vision acting as if he has power; another is clothed with the divine spirit and declares whose side he is really on.
Edom tried to imitate the stars — God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5). But stars are Israel's metaphor, not Edom's. The prince of Edom built himself into a fortress, surrounded himself with the imagery of permanence and power, and still he stood in a night vision while the real horsemen awaited God's command. The night is Edom's element. Morning belongs to someone else.